Ruger's insistence on keeping their proprietary scope mounting system is the deal breaker for me.
Had a Mini-14 back in 1979 and it was a 3" rifle at best - at best. I like the ergos and especially the left hand friendly safety and would be willing to try one of the newer ones, but you're stuck with Ruger style rings or you mount an aftermarket rail on top of their sight bases and then you add rings on top of that which pretty much destroys a good cheek weld.
If you want a low mounted red dot your choices are basically a Burris Fastfire or Vortex since Burris is the only company who makes a mount to fit into the Ruger scalloped bases. If you want a carbine style dot or a prism sight with some useful reticles you're back to mounting an aftermarket pic rail and putting the sight way up above the comb.
All they'd have to do is change those scallops to two short 1913 rails and they'd be good to go.
Gunnery, gunnery, gunnery.
Hit the target, all else is twaddle!
| 
